MagIndustries probed by RCMP over bribery allegations in Congo

The Mounties are investigating allegations from a whistleblowing accountant at TSX-listed mining company MagIndustries that his bosses paid bribes to officials in the Republic of Congo to win approvals tied to a potash mine development in that country.

According to newly unsealed court documents, the RCMP's sensitive and international investigations unit raided the Toronto offices of MagIndustries in January. The company has been developing a $1.5-billion potash mine and processing facility in the West African country for several years.

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Search warrant materials obtained by CBC News tell a cautionary tale about the company, which is registered in Toronto but controlled by Chinese interests since a takeover in 2011. Those investors and managers are now ensnared in an international police bribery investigation.

The RCMP believe four top executives with the company, including CEO Longbo Chen who took over in 2012, ignored warnings from Canadian financial advisers and signed off on a string of illegal payments to Congolese officials.

None of the allegations contained in the search warrant have been tested in court, and the RCMP has not laid any charges.

When asked for comment for this story, the company and its officials declined.

Whistleblower fired

RCMP began "Project Aloes" in late 2013 after a lead accountant on MagIndustries' Mengo potash project in Pointe Noir, Congo, contacted Canadian Embassy officials. The Canadian accountant alleges his new Chinese bosses at MagIndustries ignored his refusals to pay out $12,000 in cash to government officials.

The accountant believes the money was to help win permission to expropriate 290 hectares of land to build a seaside shipping terminal near the company's new potash processing facility. Canadian prosecutors involved in the case blanked out portions of the unsealed search warrant, including the names of the accountant and the Congolese officials involved, citing the need to protect the ongoing investigation.

MagIndustires was working closely with various Congolese officials including Pierre Oba, mining minister, and Pierre Mabiala, minister of land ownership, the warrant states. Neither of those men are accused of doing anything wrong in the public portions of the RCMP search warrant.

The accountant told the RCMP in a video­taped statement that ultimately he was terminated for his refusal to approve the illegal payments, after being told by a company official "that it was the way to conduct business in Africa."